


Nothing breaks like a heart

by thatsformetoknow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also fluff, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Getting Back Together, Lance steps on broken glass, M/M, Mild Injury, Post Break Up, but they’re okay in the end, ft. nurse shiro, hoooo boy there’s a lot of tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 00:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17294327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsformetoknow/pseuds/thatsformetoknow
Summary: "What- what are you doing here?" He asked, voice croaky and raspy from all the crying and lack of use."No one’s heard from you. I was worried." Shiro said quietly, taking a tentative step forward.Lance felt his anxiety spike at the movement, stumbling backwards to get away from him, hissing as he felt the glass crunch under his bare feet.Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked down to Lance’s feet and the glass on the floor, taking another step forward, frowning in concern."Lance-" He said, worriedly and Lance’s breath was coming quickly now in panic, stumbling sideways instinctively, because, fuck, why was Shiro coming towards him? He didn’t want Shiro anywhere near him.He barely even heard himself cry out softly at the pain as more glass lodged itself into his feet.





	Nothing breaks like a heart

**Author's Note:**

> I ??? Woke up and had the urge to write some post break up angst ??? And then a happy ending happened because I am a slut

This was Lance’s fault. 

His kitchen floor was cold. He’d come in to get something to eat, and then he’d remembered that he hadn’t really moved anything yet, and Shiro’s ‘I love you’ message on the fridge made out of magnetic letters was still there and Lance had just about had a breakdown there.

It had been about a week now. Maybe two, Lance wasn’t sure, but it felt like a lifetime. He’d survived on packets of chips out of the multi bag they’d left in the living room, and tap water from his bathroom. Thinking of eating anything more had made him throw up. He hadn’t much left the bed since it had happened. 

And the worst part was, that it was all Lance’s fault. And now Shiro was gone. And he was gone for good. Lance had let the love of his life slip through his fingers and now there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

He’d stopped crying now. He’d cried, probably more than he had ever, that he could remember and it wasn’t getting better. It wasn’t getting easier to deal with, it wasn’t getting easier to live in this empty apartment and sleep in his empty bed, and know that Shiro had once been there, but now he didn’t want to be anymore.

And he’d done this.

They’d been fighting more than usual lately. Nothing big. Nothing major, just… in general. Lance had been working late most nights, and he hadn’t been sleeping well, and so maybe he’d been… more short tempered, or more irritable than usual. Maybe he’d been picking more fights than he should have.

Maybe he’d pretended not to notice when Shiro would stay out later, or text less. Or wouldn’t stay round some nights at all, would sleep back at his own apartment that hadn’t really been his for a long time, and they’d been considering selling.

He supposed that debate was sorted now, at least.

And it had been stupid, it had been so so stupid, one little sentence, and Lance’s life was over.

_"Maybe we should just break up then."_

Shouted in anger, not meant at all.

_"Yeah, maybe we should."_

Said calmly. Meant.

Lance hadn’t meant it, he hadn’t meant it as an actual suggestion, god, he’d never wanted them to break up. He’d never wanted to lose Shiro.

Shiro had left that evening, shoved some of his things into a bag and he was gone. He hadn’t been back. Lance was sure he’d be back at some point, because there were more of his things here… or maybe it was worth losing them if he didn’t have to see Lance again.

Maybe things had been that bad. If Shiro had jumped so quickly at the first out Lance had offered him… Maybe things had been that bad. Maybe Lance was just desperately clinging onto something long dead and gone, and it was time they both let go.

But what he wouldn’t have given for Shiro to be there now, wrap him up in his arms and tell him it would be okay, even if it wouldn’t. That he loved him, even if he didn’t. 

Because Lance did. He did so much, more than anything, because if he didn’t… he wouldn’t feel like he was dying, wouldn’t physically ache so much inside like this.

But maybe Shiro had fallen out of love with him, maybe all the fighting had been that. Maybe that had been love dying and Shiro was relieved to finally be rid of him.

Lance wondered if Shiro would still be here if he hadn’t said that. How long he’d be here for before he did something about it himself, and left Lance.

Lance let out a small choked hollow laugh. Back in the beginning Shiro had whispered him soft promises of forever under soft candle glow and starlight, with tender kisses accompanied.

If Lance had made Shiro want to leave then he didn’t deserve him anyway. He had never been good enough for him, never deserved him. 

That. That was a dangerous thought path to go down, Lance knew that. He knew that far too well, and he wasn’t going to give Shiro that satisfaction. He huffed another broken laugh at even the suggestion that Shiro would find satisfaction in something like that.

He shakily stood, gripping onto the counter and taking in a few deep breaths. He moved over to the fridge, pulling the magnets off and throwing them down onto the floor. He couldn’t look at them, it was fucking stupid.

He then got a glass out of the cupboard and went over to the sink to fill it up.

He heard a noise from behind him, turning around, the glass slipping from his grasp and shattering on the floor as he saw Shiro standing in his kitchen doorway.

Right. He still had a key. 

"What- what are you doing here?" He asked, voice croaky and raspy from all the crying and lack of use. 

"No one’s heard from you. I was worried." Shiro said quietly, taking a tentative step forward.

Lance felt his anxiety spike at the movement, stumbling backwards to get away from him, hissing as he felt the glass crunch under his bare feet.

Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked down to Lance’s feet and the glass on the floor, taking another step forward, frowning in concern.

"Lance-" He said, worriedly and Lance’s breath was coming quickly now in panic, stumbling sideways instinctively, because, fuck, why was Shiro coming towards him? He didn’t want Shiro anywhere near him. 

He barely even heard himself cry out softly at the pain as more glass lodged itself into his feet.

"Just go away!" He said, swallowing thickly as tears pricked his eyes. "Go away, go away, just go away."

"Fuck- Lance- stop moving!2 Shiro said quickly, holding his hands up in a surrender.

"Fuck off!2 Lance shouted, "Just fuck off! Leave me alone, fuck, just leave me alone, fuck off, go away-" 

Fuck. That was. That was really hurting, now. He could feel the tears hot in his eyes, willing them not to spill over, but sure enough they did, and to be honest, he wasn’t too sure if it was because of the pain in his feet or of seeing Shiro again.

"It’s okay, shh," Shiro said gently. "Don’t move." He said, taking another few steps forward over to Lance, glass crunching under his shoes, before he scooped Lance up into his arms, carrying him quickly out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, setting him down on the counter. 

"Go away…" Lance said weakly, but Shiro ignored him.

"Let me see," he said, lifting Lance’s ankle to get a better look at one of his feet and wincing. "That’s nasty."

Lance winced at the movement and gave in, slumping against the wall and letting Shiro swing his feet into the sink and fill it with warm water. He then opened Lance’s make up bag, getting out his tweezers with such an ease that Lance found himself averting his eyes.

"Does it hurt?" Shiro asked softly and Lance shot him a look. "Sorry. That was, a dumb question."

It would hurt less if Shiro wasn’t here at all. In fact, it hurt a lot less than this entire break up did. 

"I’m gonna try and get it all out, okay? Otherwise I’m gonna have to drive us down to the ER."

Us. There was no us. 

Lance mutely nodded. He grit his teeth, small whimpers of discomfort escaping him as Shiro began to gently remove the glass from each of his feet, letting them soak in the water once he was finished, the water tinged pink as he got a few bits out of the cupboards.

After that he carefully dried Lance’s feet and applied a little cream to all of the cuts, before covering the bottom in cotton pads and securing it with surgical tape after making a small joke about Lance not having a big enough band aid that fell flat.

Lance wasn’t really in the mood to joke about band aids, in all honesty. His feet were stinging and aching and so was his chest and his head and his eyes, and he felt like absolute shit. Like he’d had a terrible hangover for the past week and a half and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Does that feel okay?" Shiro asked, and Lance nodded, unable to bring himself to open his mouth even to say thank you. 

Shiro gently scooped him up again, carrying him into his bedroom and setting him down on the bed, sitting down on the side.

"We- we should probably talk."

A beat passed while Lance tried to force himself to say something. His mouth didn’t want to work.

"I don’t want to talk." He murmured softly, not looking at him.

"I- okay. I can do the talking."

"You should go." Lance said quietly, hardly any conviction in his voice.

Shiro didn’t say anything for a moment. "Okay." He said eventually, standing up and making to move towards the door.

"Shiro…?" Lance asked quietly, finally looking up at him, and Shiro stopped in the doorway, turning to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Are you better off without me?" He asked, hearing the shake in his voice as his bottom lip wobbled and his eyes filled with tears, quickly averting them in the hope that Shiro wouldn’t notice.

He didn’t look up and no reply came. 

"No." He said after a few moments and Lance sniffed, a tiny sob escaping him.

"You should have said yes." He mumbled shakily, screwing his eyes shut as a tear slipped down his cheek, hanging his head, hoping to god that Shiro couldn’t see, but knowing he could.

"Why?"

"At least- at least if this is b-better for you… if you’re- _better_ without- without me… then- then I can- then I can- if I k-know that I didn’t deserve you, then-"

Oh, baby, no," Shiro said gently, voice a lot closer than the doorway and Lance flinched visibly.

"Don’t call me baby. I’m not your baby." Lance said harshly, quickly trying to wipe his eyes, but giving another small sob instead. He wanted nothing more than to be Shiro’s baby again.

"Hey, hey," Shiro said gently and Lance felt the dip of the bed beside him before Shiro was tentatively pulling Lance against his chest. "Shh, Lance, shh shh, I promise you it’s not like that. You could never not deserve me."

"You left me!2 Lance shouted, pulling away from him, angry hurt tears tracking down his cheeks, and fuck, why had Shiro even come today, did he say? Lance couldn’t remember, but he wished that he hadn’t.

Shiro recoiled a little at the harshness in Lance’s tone, and it was then that Lance saw the wetness in Shiro’s own eyes.

"I’m sorry." 

"Oh, you’re sorry. Thanks. Nice." Lance scoffed, sniffing. "Why are you even still here? God, just go away, fuck, just leave me alone, Shiro. _Please_."

"You’re the one that said it." Shiro said defensively.

"I- _fuck_. Shiro, I _never_ fucking meant that we should _actually_ break up. You weren’t supposed to agree with me and actually do it."

"I’m sorry."

"Stop fucking saying sorry."

"No, I mean it." Shiro mumbled. "I _am_ sorry. And I’m _not_ better off without you. I’d never be better off without you, Lance."

"But you left me." Lance said quietly. Shiro had left him because Lance had made Shiro want to leave him, made Shiro think he’d be better off without him. He wasn’t allowed to change his mind, that wasn’t how it worked.

"I shouldn’t have." 

Lance flicked his eyes to him at that. "But… we kept fighting… and I kept snapping at you, and I made you want to leave me."

"No." Shiro said, shaking his head. "You were stressed and overworking yourself, and instead of trying to support you and take care of you, I left you to it, and let you get into that state. I didn’t try hard enough for you."

"But-" Lance frowned, eyes glossing over again. "But this is _my_ fault." Lance had spent the past week and a half agonising over every detail, blaming himself and telling himself every little thing he’d done to mess up, punishing himself over and over again. Shiro wasn’t allowed to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

"It’s both of our faults." Shiro said and neither of them said anything after that for a few minutes.

Lance- Lance didn’t understand. This was supposed to be his fault, Shiro was supposed to tell him that it was his fault and that he fucked up and that he blew it and it was over because of him.

"Will you give me another chance?" He- he wasn’t supposed to say that. Voice meek and vulnerable, barely able to bring himself to look at Lance. Shiro wasn’t supposed to say that.

"What?"

"I could never be… better off without you, Lance. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’m _so fucking sorry_ that I let that go and I gave up and I have never regretted anything more."

"Oh." Lance said, frowning, looking at him. That- oh.

"Please take me back." He sounded almost scared. Scared that Lance would say no, maybe. Ha. As if Lance would ever be able to do such a thing.

"You’re so fucking _stupid_." Lance said thickly, trying to swallow the lump in his throat and pulling Shiro against him, burying his face into his neck. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid."

"I know, fuck, I know." Shiro said shakily, wrapping his arms tightly around him. "I’m so fucking sorry."

"I know." Lance mumbled. 

"Tell me yes." Shiro asked quietly, clutching at Lance tightly. "Please tell me yes."

Yes to what? Oh. Oh. Yes to taking him back.

"You know I would never be able to say no." Lance mumbled, letting out a long sigh against him, chest aching, still somehow more than his feet, which were still really fucking stinging a lot.

"I love you." Shiro said, finally giving a small sob and Lance pressed closer to him.

"I know, I know, I love you, too." Lance said softly back, gently stroking his back.

"Never let me do that again." Shiro mumbled, crying softly into him. "I never fucking will, fuck. Want to be with you for the rest of my life, you’re the best fucking thing that ever happened to me, I swear to you, I’ll never let you go, Lance, I swear."

Lance bit down on his lip hard, eyes spilling over again. God, he hadn’t known he’d been able to cry so much. He didn’t think he’d even had any tears left at this point.

"I’m so sorry."

"I know." 

Shiro carefully manoeuvred them so that they were lying down, holding Lance close against his chest and wrapping the covers around them.

This was how it was supposed to be. Him and Shiro, together, in this bed with these covers, in this house. Together. And things would be okay, Lance felt sure that they would, somehow. He’d make damn fucking sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
